


Ad Aspera Per Astra

by Dawn_Blossom



Series: Chrobinweek2020 and it's still all Chrom/Grima [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Grima!Robin comes after Chrom, Innocent!Ancient!Grima meets Chrom, Other, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27148003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Blossom/pseuds/Dawn_Blossom
Summary: Grima wishes on a star to meet his true love, and because he is a god, it actually works. But in another world, someone else isn't so happy abouttheirhusband being summoned away.[Chrobin Week 2020: Day 4 - Prompt: Stars]
Relationships: Chrom/Gimurei | Grima, Chrom/My Unit | Reflet | Robin
Series: Chrobinweek2020 and it's still all Chrom/Grima [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978069
Comments: 3
Kudos: 55





	Ad Aspera Per Astra

**Author's Note:**

> Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE Grima? Oh, I have...?
> 
> I tried to stay sort of vague about what Ancient Grima's doing exactly because this part of Grima's past is never specified in canon so it's purely my headcanons at work, but... I really, really think I have a good idea re what went down... You can read my full thoughts [here,](https://the-priestess-of-dawn.tumblr.com/post/630358164603322368/sometimes-i-write-headcanons-on-twitter-and-then%22) but in essence... I think Grima worked with humanity to actually destroy the earth dragons for good, but then afterwards most people turned against Grima as the new Biggest Threat... Honestly *I* think this fits perfectly well into canon as we know it, but I'm curious about what other people think. If you have ANY thoughts about Grima's history, PLEASE share them with me!
> 
> Also, note about the title: it translates to "to hardships through the stars" and is a play on the oft-used "per aspera ad astra," referring to achievement through adversity ("through hardships to the stars")

_Star light, star bright_

_First star I see tonight_

_I wish I may, I wish I might_

_Have the wish I wish tonight_

Sometimes humans have funny little superstitions. For example, wishing on stars. They aren’t praying, as Grima had initially thought (fortunately, as Grima couldn’t have possibly provided what was asked for); they are only… hoping.

Grima doesn’t understand it well, even though his human allies try their best to explain. Still, it’s amusing to watch the younger ones race to outdo each other with outlandish wishes. The older ones join in with more sensible ones… for the most part.

Like this, looking up at the stars with the friends he’s made on the battlefield, Grima feels at ease.

“My lord, you should try it, too,” says one of the women near him. 

“What kind of things do the gods wish for?” another giggles.

“I haven’t thought much about it.” Grima shrugs. “What do you think I should wish for?”

“Oh, I know! True love!” shouts a young one, to the general approval of the group.

“You mean like a husband?” Grima hums in consideration. “I’ve never had one of those.”

“Or you could wish for a wife,” says the man closest to him. “You know, ‘cause the ladies love you almost as much as they love me.”

Several humans roll their eyes. This is a common occurrence.

“Right…” Grima pauses. “And the difference is… the chores they’re supposed to do…? But I do not have a household yet, so does it matter?”

This makes the humans laugh. It’s hard to tell if it’s a good thing or not.

“You can just ask for a spouse,” another man says. “And then it can be a surprise to all of us.”

“Fine.” Grima turns his head towards the sky. “O bright stars, heed my call! I wish that I may be granted a spouse, that I might know true love!”

What’s the phrase? To have and to hold, in sickness and health, until death do them part? It sounds appealing… He could have someone who will never leave his side… Even once the war is over and the members of the army go their separate ways, he would never have to be alone if he found someone to marry. With a spouse, then even thousands of years sealed below ground would be…

No… He doesn’t want to think about that…

He’d rather have a spouse that would bury the remains of Thabes with him.

A dedicated companion. That’s what he wishes for. Someone he could confess his ungodlike history to in the first place.

He closes his eyes like the humans do and puts his whole heart into the wish.

And then… His allies scream.

Grima’s eyes fly open. The sky now glows unnaturally violet. A magical array appears in white, surrounded by orbiting symbols. It looks awfully similar to Grima’s own magic… But he hadn’t done anything!

Except… wish.

A body slides out of the array and begins to fall. Grima is on his feet at once, holding out his arms so that this strange being falls directly into them.

“Lord Grima…?” a man says hesitantly. “What… What did you do?”

“Grima? Since when do you…?” The blue-haired man in his arm looks up at him with wide eyes. “Wait… Did you grow out your hair? What the hell is going on here?”

“Do you know me?” Grima asks. 

Excitement builds in his stomach. The stars actually spit out a person for him.

“You…” The man frowns. “You don’t recognize me…”

“Are you my spouse?” Grima asks, unable to hold himself back.

“Er…” The man looks uncomfortable, so Grima sets him upright on the ground the way humans typically prefer. “My name is Chrom… I suppose I did marry you, but… Where am I? Are we in Ylisse?”

“No, milord, that territory lies southeast from here,” one of Grima’s allies chimes in. “We are currently in the west of Khadein.”

“Khadein? You said Khadein?” Chrom groans. “This has got to be some kind of joke…”

“Did you truly marry me?” Grima asks. “When? How?”

“Oh, gods, then you’re…” Chrom grimaces. “That means you haven’t…”

“Tell me everything,” Grima insists, pressing close to Chrom’s side. Gesturing to his allies, he calls out. “Come now, bring my spouse some food and drink! And perhaps something to sit on.”

“You heard him,” a man mutters. “Go make Lord Grima’s husband feel special.”

Ah, so Chrom is a husband, then.

Grima smiles. They have so much to discuss.

* * *

“I order you to tell me everything,” Grima commands.

He had let Chrom avoid his questions last night only because the man had confessed to time-travelling and clearly needed sleep to calm him. Grima had guarded him all night, but now he is ready to learn more about his future husband.

If only Chrom would not insist on keeping secrets!

“I am not one of your men,” Chrom says. “I do not have to obey.”

“Why don’t you want to tell me?” Grima frowns. “I could find you sooner if I knew what was going to happen… Are you afraid of causing a paradox? That can’t happen. Time wasn’t actually reversed; you only… Well, it’s complicated to explain. Do you want me to?”

“Heh…” Chrom gives him a look that makes him feel warm. “I’m surprised at how much you haven’t actually changed.”

But then the man sighs as though he has lost all his soul.

“You look so happy here,” he says. “What if the future doesn’t come to pass the same way? But what if it does? Gods, I don’t want to tell you the wrong thing!”

He’s so fascinating. Does he not realize that every word he says only serves to make Grima want to know even more?

“What if I promise not to act on what you tell me?” Grima suggests. “Then it would not matter if what you say is wrong.”

“Er… No,” Chrom says. “Definitely not.”

“What, you don’t believe me?” Grima scowls. “What’s the worst thing that could happen if you told me?”

“You will—”

But whatever Chrom was going to say gets cut off by a shout.

“Help! Help!” screams one of the generals who had been sent ahead. “Lord Grima has turned on us! Our soldiers… Our soldiers can’t win…”

“What are you talking about?” Grima asks, pushing through the growing crowd. “I’m right here!”

“Lord Grima? Then who…?” The general shakes his head. “But no other dragon is so massive… And there was someone there beneath the dragon yelling about ‘the fell dragon,’ Grima…”

“Where are they?” Chrom demands. “Take me there at once!”

“Are you mad?” the general snaps. “Our only hope is to run!”

“No,” Grima says. “I want to see this… fell dragon.”

He catches Chrom’s eyes. The man grimaces.

“Sorry about…” Chrom sighs. “Everything.”

Grima understands why Chrom did not want to tell him about his future as soon as they arrive at the scene. A familiar dragon obscures the sky, though Grima has never seen himself from an outside perspective like this before. Corpses litter the ground, and all the smoke and ash in the air makes it difficult to count just how many were slaughtered.

At the center of the massacre stands a single figure, illuminated only by the purple glow of dark magic.

“Robin!” Chrom cries.

“Who is that?” Grima asks.

“They’re… the person I married,” Chrom says. “Your reincarnation…”

Reincarnation… Does that mean Grima died? This “Robin” does bear a striking resemblance to him. Their hair is shorter… Their overall height is shorter… They are controlling the dragon above them like a puppet rather than transforming… But nevertheless, Grima does not doubt that this is him.

When Chrom takes off running, Grima follows behind. He doesn’t understand how his future self could do this to an army of _allies._ Will he get more answers from himself than from Chrom?

“Robin! Please…” Chrom calls out. “Stop this… Come here to me!”

“Chrom?” Robin’s eyes widen, and they freeze. “You’re truly here? It wasn’t a dream…?”

They slump to their knees as their magic flickers out. Immediately, Chrom kneels in front of them, pulling them into an embrace.

“Chrom… Seeing these humans again, I was afraid…” Robin shudders so violently that Grima can see it even half-blocked by Chrom’s body. “And after you were transported away so suddenly…”

“The bonds we forged are real,” Chrom says. “You are my other half. Nothing will ever change that.”

True love… Grima had wished to know true love. Is this it in front of him? Two bodies pressed so closely together that he can hardly tell where one’s quintessence ends and the other’s begins?

“I… spent too much energy today,” Robin says. “But tomorrow, I think, I can bring you back…”

“Back?” Grima scowls as he takes a step closer. “He’s not going back! He just got here!”

“You…” Robin gets to their feet again. “What are you thinking? The humans will kill him! I will not allow you or anyone else to harm him!”

“Why would the humans kill him?” Grima asks. “I wouldn’t ask him to battle. He could stay in camp with the others not deployed…”

“The others not deployed…?” Robin frowns. “Wait…”

“This place is still the United Kingdom of Archanea,” Chrom says.

“And you didn’t tell him?” Robin asks incredulously.

“I didn’t want to make things worse…” Chrom says.

Robin laughs. It is definitely not a happy sound.

“Worse? It couldn’t have been worse!” they exclaim. “But fine, I’LL explain what happens! See that one there?” They kick one of the corpses. “He stabs you in the back! Literally! And the rest are no better! None of the humans you hang around with care about you! They are using you because they face a threat they need your power for… When you give them what they asked for, you become the new threat! Only a small faction dares to stand with you… and the war that results reshapes the political landscape of the entire continent from then on… A war you lose, I should mention…”

“No…” Grima shakes their head. “I… I don’t believe you… Why would my allies ever…?”

But why would his future self lie to him? And nobody even doubted it when the general announced that “he” was on a rampage…

Do they truly see him as just another threat they have to keep under control?

“And then you come back,” Chrom says. “The people of the nation formed in your name keep your bloodline alive and you are born again. I get to meet you, and we fall in love despite the wars we get stuck in the middle of. We find a way to bring peace to the continent and—”

“And that is why we must go back,” Robin says. “There is finally a future I want to see…”

“I…” Grima presses an arm to his chest. It aches. “I don’t know what to say…”

He’s going to be happy… someday. A long time from now. After going through a lot.

How is he supposed to feel about that? Would he like to suffer Thabes again for the joy of getting out? Of course not! Is this any different?

He has to think.

He grimaces. He can’t return to camp like this. Apparently no one truly wants him there, anyway.

He lets his power engulf him and restore him back into his true form. With wings, he can simply fly away.

“Grima, wait!” Chrom shouts.

But humans are so small compared to Grima that he does not have to pay attention.

* * *

Grima wakes from a fitful night’s sleep to the sound of beating wings outside the cave he sheltered in.

“You think he’s here? It’s a tight fit for a dragon…” Chrom says.

“There’s no risk. He can transform if he gets stuck,” Robin says.

Grima covers his head with a wing. There’s nowhere for him to go in here, but he doesn’t have to be welcoming.

“There, he’s fine,” Robin says. “Let’s go.”

“Give us a minute,” Chrom says. “Grima… Robin and I are going to return to the future…”

Grima rumbles in acknowledgement.

“… You could come with us, you know,” Chrom continues. “There’s no reason you have to stay here.”

One wrong move from Grima could send Chrom hurtling to his death. Reluctantly, he transforms.

“I cannot,” he says.

The reason is simple: he does not want to share. The thought of being second-best to some future version of himself, of wandering around in a world that doesn’t belong to him, is unbearable.

“At least you know what will happen if you stay,” Robin says. “You can’t change what the humans have already done, but… You will find, eventually, that nothing is inevitable.”

Grima nods, closing his eyes.

He doesn’t _have_ to go back to the humans. He doesn’t _ever_ have to go back to the humans. What good is helping them if he knows they will hurt him in return?

And yet…

A war that shapes the continent. A nation formed in his name. A reincarnation that brings peace, even for a time, to humanity, that ridiculously contentious species.

And a husband…

He wants it all. What god could claim any greater accomplishment? Even Naga has never infiltrated human society so thoroughly as to marry among them!

“I’ll figure something out,” he assures his future self.

Maybe nothing is inevitable. But he will do everything in his power to reach the ending he desires.

* * *

And one thousand years later on the continent of Ylisse, everyone knows the tale of the fell dragon, Grima. They say he was a strange sort, turning his breath against humanity with cold indifference, leaving all the passion to his followers. Even as he was pierced by the First Exalt’s holy blade, he revealed no anger, merely announcing with his final words: 

“I will be back… for my true love!”


End file.
